Research Groups

The Research Group of Metalloproteomics is focused on the following topics:

1. Structural and functional studies of metalloproteins participating in homeostasis of biometals: zinc, copper and iron by methods like NMR, ESI MS, ICP MS, fluorescence ja UV-VIS spectroscopy;
2. The role of biometals: zinc, copper and iron on fibrillization as well as on in vitro and in vivo toxicity of amyloigogenic peptides linked with Alzheimer’s disease;
3. Design of new metal-chelating ligands and elaboration of metal-chelating therapeutic strategies for Wilsons and Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Palumaa is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

The most important achievements of the research group during last year were connected with the elucidation of the influence of α-lipoic acid on cellular copper metabolism and evaluation of its therapeutic potential in Alzheimer’s disease insect models.

Alzheimer´s disease, ​biometals, copper, Wilson’s disease, zinc

Infertility is a worldwide problem with medical, socio-economical as well as psychological aspects. According to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, medical intervention is sought for by 15% of couples who wish to conceive their biological offspring (www.eshre.eu).
The Research Group of Reproductive Biology is mainly focused on the problems of female infertility and we investigate the biological processes in human ovary. Our main goal is to describe intercellular molecular interactions in the ovary and to find factors that would aid in discriminating between viable and non-viable oocytes. Various genome-wide high-throughput technologies are used in our research: next-generation sequencing, proteomics and data analysis methods in the field of systems biology to mention a few. We collaborate with all infertility clinics in Estonia in order to collect biological samples (ovarian granulosa cells, ovarian biopsies, follicular fluid, and blood samples) from fertile and infertile women.

The research group of reproductive biology is mainly focused on investigating the molecular origins of female infertility and the possibilities for diagnostics in the field. Our research subjects can be divided into three categories:
a. Research on human ovary and related etiologies of infertility.
b. The effect of environmental chemicals on ovarian function.
c. Development of methods for fertility preservation.

We use modern gene expression and cell population characterization methods: next generation sequencing, single cell technologies, functional assays in cell-line and primary cell culture models, etc. The acquired data is analysed and modelled by bioinformatic algorithms.

bioinformatics​, infertility, ​reproductive biology, sequencing

COMPETENCY:

• Research and development of novel technologies in cardiovascular medicine.
• Development of cardiovascular medical engineering.
• Clinical application of novel technologies in the field of cardiovascular medicine.
• Early atherosclerosis and development of novel technologies and devices.
• Hemodynamics of resistant hypertension and development of novel methods in guiding of drug treatment.
• Cardiovascular risk assessment (including polygenic risk score) and management.
• Diagnosis and treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia.

atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, diagnosis, heart, hypertension, technologies, treatment

The main research field of the SensorTechBME team is to develop flexible and novel sensor technologies and algorithms in biomedical engineering applications:

• To estimate dialysis adequacy and quality securing end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients’ care quality. The research is exploring spectrophotometrical and spectrofluorimetrical characteristics-signatures of the biofluids and performing various signal processing and analysis on those signals.
• To develop beyond the state-of-the-art applications incorporated into a smart wearable multi-sensor fusion system for generating valuable data about the workers’ location, locomotion, physical activity, energy consumption and physiological status;
• For speech-to-text usage in healthcare and industry

More information: Homepage

Algorithms, automatic speech recognition, biofluid optics, dialysis, energy consumption, fatigue monitoring, medical engineering, on-line monitoring, physical activity monitoring, sensor fusion, sensors, signal processing, smart work wear, spectrofluorimetry, spectrophotometry, speech-to-text applications, uremic toxins

The competencies of the research group are: production digitalisation, virtualisation, simulation, development of digital twins, reconfiguring manufacturing from conventional machining technologies to 3D related.

Main results: An approach was proposed to develop a Digital Twin of production systems in order to optimize the planning and commissioning process. The proposed virtual cell interacts with the physical system with the help of different Digital Manufacturing Tools (DMT), which allows for the testing of various programs in a different scenario to check for any shortcomings before it
is implemented on the physical system. Case studies from the different production systems were demonstrated to realize the feasibility of the proposed approach. Based on the concept of Industry 5.0, it is important to integrate the human operator, especially using virtual and augmented reality tools.

Corresponding tests have been carried out both in terms of the user interface and medical indications. Development of an integrated and recursive artificial intelligence-based decision-making process for robotic workplace design and performance evaluation has been performed.

A User-Centred Design approach was implemented, which is crucial in addressing the open challenges of Human-Robot Collaboration systems. Our work allocates Digital Twins and Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies (AR/VR) as central in this process by considering them as the key tools for the design, control, and assessment of modern collaborative industrial scenarios. It aims at assessing three types of input paradigms with virtual user Interfaces controlling a Digital Twin robot arm in a simple pick and place task and which can be based on different VR controller devices.

digital manufacturing​, digital twins, industry 4.0/5.0, ​smart manufacturing

Supramolecular chemistry research group is interested in study of chiral molecular containers, like hemicucurbiturils.

We are developing sustainable and efficient synthesis methods, concentrating also on mechanochemistry. We are studying molecular and supramolecular structure of macrocycles and their interactions.

Supramolecular chemistry unites approaches of analytical, organic and physical chemistry to study mater in a broader way. Molecular containers are able to form host-guest complexes with other molecules and in a special case of inclusion complexes, the small molecule is fully encapsulated by the macrocycle. These complexes are held together by non-covalent interactions. We are mainly interested in macrocycles that belong to cucurbituril family, the hemicucurbiturils and their complexes and derivatives with optically attractive porphyrins. We explore the potential of new molecular containers in material and environmental science for sensing.

CD, chemosensors, chirality, cucurbiturils, FS, host-guest complexes, macrocycles, mechanochemistry, NMR​, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, organic synthesis, receptors, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, spectroscopy, ​supramolecular chemistry, synthesis, UV-vis, VCD

The research activities are focused on designing efficient, safe, and environmentally benign chemicals, formulations, and processes. We target chemical transformations in accordance with the concept of sustainability and the principles of green chemistry.

Greener organic chemistry is applied to the development of more sustainable organic synthesis methods to obtain small molecules and functional materials for biomedical, environmental, or industrial applications.

We explore rational design of antidotes-reactivators of AChE inhibited by toxic organophosphorous compounds and potential anticancer agents using methods and practices of medicinal chemistry. We develop innovative formulations for drug delivery based on functionalized carbon nanoparticles (nanodiamonds and nanodots) and biocompatible and biodegradable platforms.

Renewable feedstock in chemistry principle is fulfilled through inventing new more sustainable protocols for biomass valorization and designing novel lignin-based materials for catalysis, biomedical application, and climate-resilient construction, following principles of circular bioeconomy.

Design for degradation is supported by study of biodegradability via OECD 301D Closed Bottle Test facility installed by the team to identify low-toxic and mineralizable transformation products, targeting “benign-by-design” approach.

Risk management of technogenic accidents includes improvement of

1. antidotal and decontamination formulations for more sustainable kits for the first responders and volunteers;
2. more sustainable disinfectant formulations, and
3. prevention and reduction of chemical and biological threats with support of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques to enable distinguishing of toxic industrial compounds, bacteria, fungi and viruses based on their unique fingerprints within a complex environment.

Main research topics:

• Greener methods for organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry
• Renewable feedstock in chemistry via chemical valorisation lignin and peat · Design for degradation via biodegradability study and “benigh-by-design” approach
• Technogenic risks mitigation via novel formulations for first responders and via reconnaissance and prevention of chemical and biological threats.

biodegradability, biodegradation, biomass valorization, chemical decontamination​, medicinal chemistry, sustainable chemicals and formulations

The research in the group is focused on the development of new electro- and photochemical transformation in continuous-flow. Our research is multidisciplinary, as we combine modern organic synthesis techniques with chemical engineering in order to achieve high efficiency and sustainability. In electro- and photochemical reactions, electricity or light are used as traceless and green reagents to generate highly reactive species under mild reaction conditions, which gives access to the new reaction pathways.

Moreover, the potential to harvest sustainable electricity from solar or wind energy and using daylight directly to perform reactions makes electro- and photochemistry highly attractive. In our group, we perform such transformation not in conventional chemical flask or test tubes, but in specially designed flow photo- and electromicroreactors, where solution of chemicals is continuously pumped through the active reactor zone. Due to the continuous nature of the process, such transformations are easy to scale up merging the gap between academia and chemical industry.

asymmetric catalysis​, ​electrochemistry, flow chemistry, organic synthesis, photochemistry

In the Laboratory of Systems Biology, we use interdisciplinary approaches to tackle questions in cardiac physiology. Our team consists of researchers with
backgrounds in biophysics, biology, and applied mathematics/physics. As a result, we are able to approach scientific questions on different scales, from
organ to molecular level, using combinations of different experimental and theoretical techniques by focusing on quantitative analysis of the data. We study diffusion in cardiomyocytes by tracking the movement of fluorescent molecules using extended raster image correlation spectroscopy.

Our results suggest that diffusion barriers are arranged in a 3D lattice with relatively small openings. Based on the analysis of autofluorescence response, we demonstrated that mitochondrial outer membrane and cytosolic diffusion barriers reduce the movement of molecules to a similar extent. We study effects of creatine deficiency to establish the role of creatine kinase shuttle in the heart.

In the research papers published this year, we demonstrated how creatine deficiency leads to intracellular adaptations in terms of alternative energy transfer systems changes and an impact on calcium handling of cardiomyocytes. These studies form a basis for our current line of research on interactions between processes in cardiomyocytes.

We have been active in the development of new techniques and distribute them as open-source tools: deconvolution software for enhancing confocal imaging, symbolic flux analysis for genome-scale metabolic networks, and real-time sarcomere length estimation techniques. We have also developed a new software for analysis of gel electrophoresis images.

bioenergetics, biomechanics, biophysics, electrophysiology, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, heart, intracellular diffusion

The research group's vision is “Innovation through border crossing.”

The group focuses on the synergy of science and technology to provide practical solutions and transform scientific discoveries into innovative products. The core technologies of the research group include capillary electrophoresis, fluorescence, conductivity, gas chromatography, microfluidics, and various other modern instrumental and analytical methods. The group develops analytical methods for the detection and quantification of psychoactive substances in biological samples and plant materials. Additionally, the research group studies various substances' pharmacokinetics and metabolism to understand their effects better and develop the corresponding detection methods.

The group collaborates closely with international research teams and partners worldwide and actively contributes to various partnership projects, including Horizon Europe and other research funding programs. Over the past 15 years, the group's scientists have developed and implemented various analyzers for multiple sectors and partners, such as www.drughunter.eu and www.smagry.com.

Key collaborators have included the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, for whom an innovative solution, the Drug Hunter analyzer, has been developed to meet the practical needs of both the public and private sectors.

analyzers, banned compounds, capillary electrophoresis, chemometrics, Drug Hunter, fluorescence, illegal drugs, microfluidics, precise agriculture, quality management, sensors, smart agriculture